HOME
by CandCPace
Summary: They are all a family. No one else knew what they had been through and no one else would ever understand. In this way the survivors had formed a bond that nothing could ever break. Mostly C&C after they are rescued. Rated for language.
1. On Their Way

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or any of its Characters.

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It's been 12 hours since the helicopters came to rescue the survivors of Oceanic flight 815. But to Charlie Pace its felt like an eternity, since he and his fellow survivors were getting into the helicopters and taking one last look at that horrible yet somehow wonderful island that they had called their home for those six excruciatingly long months. For some of them it has been the only home they have ever known and for others it has been like a purgatory, a place to start fresh, a place where nobody knew what had happened in your past and nobody really cared all that much either. 

They are all a family even if some would never admit it willingly. No one else in that world knew what they had been through and no one else would ever understand. In this way the survivors had formed a bond that nothing could ever break.

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"How much longer is this going to take" called Charlie from somewhere near the back of the small plane where the surviving 29 passengers of flight 815 were packed in the best they could.

"I'm very sorry sir we are almost ready for take off" replied the flight attendant "I know how anxious you must be to return home."

"You have no idea" Charlie said with a smile as he looked next to him at Claire who has fallen asleep on his shoulder of pure exhaustion and Aaron snoozing in his lap. Charlie was so happy to be bringing his new family home with him. He couldn't wait to show Claire around LA and to bring them home to his apartment so they could start their life together. But the only way that would happen was if this plane ever took off. They had been sitting in this bloody plane on the runway of this bloody ship for about 13 hours now, if Charlie's count was correct. And despite what the flight attendant told him he realized that it would be at least an hour longer so he decided to do as everyone around him was doing and get some rest.

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Charlie woke up about five hours into their six hour flight. "Wow" he said with a yawn "I didn't realize how tired I really was… and look at this little guy" he said to the now awake Claire, gesturing down at Aaron who was still peacefully asleep in Charlie lap.

"I know… I guess all that crying he did before we left the island really tired him out" Claire said with a laugh.

"Yeah I suppose so….." they sat in silence for a few minuets smiling to themselves.

"So… you nervous?" he asked.

"No…well yes and no I guess" Claire replied. "Its going to be weird you know, being back… we've talked about it a lot obviously and of course I thought about it…but to be honest I never believed it would happen." As Claire said this, her eyes began to well with tears, seeing this Charlie put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. She snuggled under his arm and for the thousandth time since they met she felt like everything would be all right as long as Charlie was by her side she felt complete. Claire looked down at her beautiful son sleeping on the lap of the only man who had been there for them since the beginning. She knew that he would never know his real father but for some reason that didn't bother her anymore. As far as Claire was concerned Charlie was Aaron's father, maybe not biologically but Charlie was his father none the less and that's all that really mattered.

"Attention the Captain has switched on the fasten seatbelt light, please prepare for your long awaited landing" Said the stewardess voice from the sound system.

At hearing this atmosphere in the cabin was full of excitement everyone close to a window leaned towards it to see their, and the stewardess had so rightfully stated," long awaited" destination.

"Here we go" Charlie said with a grin while giving Claire's shoulder another reassuring squeeze.


	2. Waiting

So there they sat all 29, they were "home" well not entirely, unless home to you is a closed off terminal of LAX airport. Apparently they were not allowed to be released until they all had a physical and were confirmed to be who they said they were. Because there in the United States of America there is simply is no acceptation for not having proper identification when entering the country even if you had survived a plane crash and were stranded on an island for six months. You were expected to have a passport and drivers license.

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"This is bull shit" Charlie muttered under his breath as he walked back from the information counter for the tenth time, in the terminal. He had been trying to see if he could weasel his, Claire's and Aaron's way into being first on the list to receive a physical in the morning hoping that by the time that was over their identification cards would have arrived and then they could leave. But of course that didn't happen because even though Aaron was 5 months old and could have God forbid caught some horrible disease on the island. "The physicals must be done in alphabetical order" as the grouchy man at the counter said. "Alphabetical order my ass" Charlie muttered at he sat down next to Claire. Who was watching Aaron play with the stuffed monkey that Charlie had bought for him in the air port gift shop when they first arrived. "Here you go mate your first toy!!" Charlie had said when he gave it to Aaron.

"What did you say about alphabetical order?" Asked Claire when Charlie sat down.

"Well I tried to get you, Aaron, and I as well, bumped up to the top of the physical list. Because who knows what he could have caught on that damn island and because you only gave birth to him five months ago and haven't been to a doctor other that Jack since that you should get checked out first. But that's apparently not allowed it has to go alphabetically"

"I think you forgot something" Claire said with a mocking smile.

"What?" Charlie asked confused.

"You said that you were trying to get me, Aaron, and **you** bumped up to the top of the physical list. Only you didn't explain why you thought that **you **should be bumped up too."

"Oh well I didn't want you to have to wait around here longer then you had to especially for me…."

"And…"

"What do you mean…**and**?" Asked Charlie trying to play dumb, but his act wasn't fooling Claire.

"You know what I mean"

"Oh…um …well…I wasn't waiting in any bloody line full of almost 30 people just so some nosy doctor can ask me a thousand questions about "what it was like out there" and then for him to say "well you're fine have a great day and welcome back"

"God you're crabby" Claire said, laughing at his impression of the doctor. "Aren't you happy to be back?"

"Of course I'm happy, look around everyone is happy, but everyone also is wiped out, and tired of all the questions, and just want to bring the people they love home."

"I know" Claire said taking Charlie's face in her hands and turning it, away from their friends who sat all around them, towards her. "I know" She whispered again and kissed him. Reassuring him like, he did for her before they landed, that everything was going to be alright.


	3. See you Later

"Attention everyone" came the voice of a women on the sound system. "Thank you for your patience…"

"Like we had a choice" said Charlie sarcastically.

"Shhhh" replied Claire elbowing him gently in the rib. Charlie pretended to double over in pain clutching his stomach. "Shhhh" Claire said again, this time she couldn't help laughing.

"…Now that the physicals are finished and all of your identification cards have checked out…" continued the woman. "We have tried to notify some of your relatives who were reachable and they are here now. You are free to go. Have a wonderful day, and Welcome back flight 815 Welcome Back!"

The moment she finished speaking everyone was on their feet cheering and shouting, crying and hugging.

Charlie bent down and picked up Aaron and proceeded to hug and spin him around and around while the two laughed together. "Did you here that little guy? You, mummy, and I are going home! I can tell you're excited by that gurgle you just made, if I were a betting man I would say that meant you want your own room. And I right?"

Claire looked over from where she stood cheering with Kate and Sun. And what she saw made her cry even harder, the three of them really were a family and they were finally going to go home.

She ran over to them with a huge smile plastered on her face and tears streaming from her eyes. Charlie pulled her close, kissed her and whispered in her ear. "Did you hear that luv? We can finally go!" Charlie kissed her again, and handed Aaron over to his mum while he went to gather up the two bags that held what little they had on the island.

The bags held their lives essentially, their clothes, blankets, books, and memories good and bad. Everything that made them the people and the family they are today was contained in those bags. But Charlie knew that even if the clothes were dirty with mud and smelled like salt water and fish, or that the blankets had holes in them from constantly sleeping on the ground, and the books may have gotten wet in one of those freak rainstorms, he and Claire could never leave them behind and neither would want to.

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"How could we ever begin to say goodbye to everyone?" Claire asked as she walked over to Charlie where he was stacking their bags on one of the chairs so when they were ready to leave they could just go.

Charlie stood up and pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss on the top if the head. "Well yeah…It's going to be hard. But it's not really goodbye if you think about it."

Claire leaned back a little and looked up in to his dazzling grey-blue eyes and asked "How's that"

"Well luv, I don't know about you but I don't think any of us are getting on another plane anytime soon, even with those golden passes they gave us. So it seems that we'll all be in or around the LA area for a while. We'll see each other occasionally. Plus with what we've been through we'd have to be crazy to think that we haven't become a really strange extended family, I think we're kind of stuck with each other."

That made Claire laugh because she knew that Charlie was right, you're family are the people who stick by you no matter what happens good or bad, and that's what the rest of the survivors of flight 815 were, they were family and they will always be there.

---

So Charlie and Claire began the process of saying goodbye or in Charlie's case "see you later."

Claire didn't know who to start with, finally she decided to go to Jack first it seemed rather poetic since he was the first person she met after the crash, and he had helped her so much on the island before and after her pregnancy, not to mention that they had just found out that they had the same father. "Erm…Jack" she said as she tapped him on the back.

"Claire!" he cried as he turned around.

"Aaron and I wanted to come and say goodbye…and I also wanted to …um thank you for…um everything that you did for us on the island. You're a wonderful leader…and a great brother." As she finished her eyes began to fill with tears for about the millionth time since they were rescued.

"Aww Claire" Jack said as he gave her a hug. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that…ever since we crashed I've felt as if everything I did was wrong….Thank you." He said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then kissed his nephew on the top of the head. "We'll keep in touch; ok…I want to be around for my favorite nephew…Hell my only nephew!" They both laughed together and hugged for the second time. Then Jack walked away to say goodbye to Sayid.

Charlie walked up to Hurley who was finishing saying goodbye to Sun and Jin. "Hey mate."

"Dude come' ere!" Hurley yelled as he picked Charlie up into a big Hurley hug.

"Listen Hurley…" Charlie said "I'm glad that you were on the plane when it crashed…wow…erm that sounded kind of morbid…I don't mean it like that…Its just…I'm glad that we met, you know, and that never would have happened if that plane didn't crash. Did that make any sense to you?" Charlie said laughing at the total ass that he just made of himself.

"Yeah Dude, I got it…and I feel the same way."

"Good" Charlie said as they laughed together.

"I'll look you up whenever I'm back in LA. You two can get a babysitter for Aaron and we'll go out for a drink…on me."

"Sounds great" Charlie said with a smile.

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**Thanks for all the Reviews. Keep them comming. More Reviews The faster I write Chapter 4**.

** 3 candcpace**


	4. Home

**Thanks for the reviews. Sorry it's taken me so long to update but here it is. I'm thinking that this will be the last chapter, unless I think of something else I want to add in later. Enjoy! Please Review if you liked it.**

**CandCPace**

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Charlie and Claire walked out of the terminal and into the crowded street, never once did Charlie let go of her hand, he held tight even when he hailed the cab that would take them to his old apartment. Charlie wasn't surprised that no one was there at the airport for him, to welcome him home. But that doesn't mean that when he heard the announcement about some family members being there he didn't get a little excited about seeing Liam again, even if it was impossible to get a plane ticket form Sydney to LA in a day's notice. Charlie was sure that by the time he got home there would be a new message on his machine added to the thousand other ones that had no doubt accumulated in the six months since he'd checked them. From people who were wondering what happened to him, and why he wasn't returning any of their calls.

"Well here it is" Charlie said as they climbed out of the cab. "Welcome to Casa de la Pace" he said as he paid the driver and went to grab the bags out of the trunk. "Shall we" asked Charlie offering his free hand to Claire.

"Lead the way Señor" Claire replied with a mocking laugh.

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Three flights of stairs later and they had finally arrived at apartment 23C.

"Thank God we don't have much to carry or this would be murder" Charlie said sarcastically as he fumbled with both their bags as her tried to open the door.

Claire laughed at the expression on his face as he tried to open the door that apparently sealed itself shut at the news that its resident had died in a horrific plane crash.

With a few grunts and a kick from Charlie the door finally opened. And they were greeted with the foul smell of leftover pizza, air freshener and a hint mold.

"I know it doesn't look like much but we can clean it up, add some new paint, rearrange the furniture, and this place will look bran new" Charlie said.

Claire looked around the room and then turned towards Charlie who was staring at her, waiting for her reaction. She walked over to him and placed a kiss on his lips. "It's perfect" she said with a smile.

Charlie's face lit up "really… it's not too small?"

"No Charlie, is just the right size for our little family."

"Great! So let me give you and Turnip-Head the grand tour. So right now we are standing in the kitchen, and straight ahead is the dining room/living room. To the right will be Aaron's bachelor pad, complete with view of the deli down the street and the beach a few miles away." Claire giggled. "And last but not least is the most important room of the house."

"Oh really, and what room might that be?" Claire asked with a smile already knowing full well which room Charlie was talking about.

"Well, the loo of course!" Charlie said with a teasing grin. "Well there you go, now that you've seen all the rooms in our humble abode how about some food, I'm starved."

"Not so fast Mister!" Claire exclaimed I think you're forgetting something.

"Hmmm…Nope, I don't think so" Charlie said innocently. "How 'bout Chinese tonight, I think I remember a really great place down the street, hopefully the board of health hasn't closed it down yet."

"Charlie, come on! You know what I mean." Claire whined.

"Ohhhh, that's right I knew I forgot something. Over here to your left, behind this closed door, is probably my favorite room of the house. Or, well it wasn't my favorite until I realize that I would be sharing it with you." Charlie told her with a sheepish grin as he opened the door. The room wasn't huge; most of space was taken up by a bed, night tables, and dresser. Sunlight streamed in through the one large window, giving the room a warm glow. The floor was littered with a few articles of Charlie's clothing. But despite the obvious amount of dust that the room had collected since the last time someone had slept in it, Claire couldn't help but walk and sit down on the bed. There was something about the room that was so inviting, so cozy. "So...ahh...what do you think?" He asked anxiously.

"Its so cozy Charlie, I don't know how to put it. It feels like...Home" And with that Charlie took her hand in his, and kissed her.

"I love you, Claire" He said angst her lips.

"I love you too, Charlie"

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